Protective Orders

Mary Crawford's husband fired a rifle at her chest. Janet Blackburn's sister, niece and two nephews were killed by an abuser. Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown's cousin was shot to death by her estranged boyfriend. The three of them - and a dozen police officers, elected officials and domestic violence specialists - testified yesterday in Annapolis about two initiatives that would take firearms out of the hands of suspected abusers. "These bills do in fact save lives," Brown said. He told lawmakers the story of his cousin, Catherine Brown, a first-grade teacher who was killed last summer at her home days before school was to begin.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, whose cousin was killed last year by her estranged boyfriend, said he will urge lawmakers to pass the governor's initiatives on domestic violence. Gov. Martin O'Malley is asking that judges be allowed to confiscate guns from the subjects of temporary protective orders, and be required to take them after final protective orders are issued. Catherine T. Brown, 40, was fatally shot in August by Michael K. Wilson, who was then killed by Montgomery County police.

A woman who police say was stabbed by her husband moments after a judge granted her a temporary protective order against him has died. Baltimore police spokesman Donny Moses said that Veronica Williams, 28, died about 9 p.m. Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Her husband of 10 years, Cleaven Williams, 33, who is president of an East Baltimore community group, is listed in good condition at the same hospital, recovering from at least two bullet wounds fired by city Officer Joshua Laycock.

Man, 20, pleads guilty to August handgun charges Davon Temple, 20, who as a teenager sidestepped prosecution in connection with a double homicide, pleaded guilty Friday to being in possession of a handgun. He was sentenced to three years' probation. Police arrested Temple in the April 23, 2006, shooting deaths of Jennifer Morelock and Jason Woycio, two Carroll County residents police think had been in the city buying drugs. Temple was charged in the slayings when an officer found a text message on his phone that said, "I killed 2 white people around my way 2day & 1 of them was a woman," according to charging documents.

It took just a half-hour court hearing to convince the judge that Parbadee Ann Bisnath's ex-husband had threatened her with a kitchen knife in front of their children and vowed to kill her if she did not leave their house. Baltimore County District Judge Bruce S. Lamdin ordered Gordan Bisnath not to abuse, threaten or harass her anymore. He directed the 48-year-old to complete an abuser intervention program. But when it came time to address the victim's request that her abuser not be permitted to contact her or return to their home - provisions that domestic violence experts say typically are granted as a matter of routine in such cases - the judge declined.

After Rebecca Tacchetti filed a protective order this summer, she felt more at ease knowing that the Howard County Sheriff's Office was only a phone call away when she had questions, worries or simply needed a shoulder to lean on. "They have been a wonderful support during a very difficult transition in a person's life," said Tacchetti, a Howard County resident. Tacchetti was one of the people to benefit from a pilot program called the Domestic Violence Welfare Check-Up. The Sheriff's Office started the program about two months ago to give those who filed protective and peace orders a way to follow up with deputies if they had questions about the process, said Sgt. Brian Baer, who heads the office's domestic violence unit.

As details emerged about three youngsters apparently drowned by their father in a downtown hotel room over the weekend, legal experts and family advocates questioned whether Maryland law goes far enough to protect children in custody disputes. Some argue that judges are too quick to dismiss women's claims of abuse and too willing to award unsupervised visitation - even if one parent has a history of mental illness or battering the other. Amy Castillo, whose estranged husband, Mark Castillo, allegedly confessed to the killings, said in court documents that her husband had threatened to make her suffer by killing their children.

In a move described as an effort to shield abused women, the Senate approved last night a bill allowing a judge to order subjects of temporary protective orders to surrender any firearms they possess. The vote was 29 to 17, with opponents arguing that the measure is an unwarranted infringement of a person's constitutional right to have a gun. Under the bill, a district or circuit court judge would be authorized to require that any firearms be surrendered when a temporary order is issued requiring a person to stay away from another.

Courts still overlook domestic violence It's important to see the two murders described in "Tales of domestic turmoil mark 2 Baltimore County shootings" (Sept. 18) in the context of the larger issue of domestic-violence homicides in Baltimore County and across the nation. According to the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, in 2006, 12 people in Baltimore County were killed as a result of domestic violence. Those 12 victims represented just 17 percent of the state's death toll from domestic violence in 2006.

Jeffrey Jacobsen buckled his young sons into his sport utility vehicle and was about to drive away from the Timonium home he once shared with his estranged wife when he paused, the man's father recalled. Jacobsen asked his father, who was sitting beside him, to tell his wife to come outside. He said he had a question for her. As Jessica Jacobsen approached the vehicle, her husband quickly got out, shot his wife in the chest with a handgun and ran into the house, his father, Reginald Jacobsen, recalled yesterday.